Questions regarding possible Acer AS4715 CPU upgrade

Hello, I've recently acquired an Acer Aspire AS4715-4053 (LX.AL40X.012) and I’m interested in upgrading the CPU. I haven’t found any information regarding upgrade attempts with my particular model though… it seems to me that it might be similar to a 4720 minus a few interface ports.

It has the following:
Intel T2370 (1.73 GHz, FSB 533MHz, 1MB L2 Cache)
Intel GL960 Chipset
2 GB DDR2 (I believe it’s maxed out)

I think I can upgrade this notebook using the other posts I’ve found here as an example… but I have a few questions before I give it a go:

1) Has anyone already performed a CPU upgrade on this particular machine? I’ve searched and I haven’t found any reference to AS4715-4053.

2) Can I upgrade to any socket P processor, or does the model limit what I can upgrade to? I’d like to get over 2 GHz. Any recommendations?

3) Should I upgrade the BIOS before attempting the upgrade?

4) Is there anything else I should know that I’m forgetting?

Thanks, all!

 

BigO, atthegates come on boys we have another CPU upgrade to work on

Jay we will help you all the way mate,

see the first page using the link in my sig you will find some useful links on the first post.

 

yep u can upgrade to any of the cpus ranging from the T5250 to the T7700....and can go above if u are the more adventurous kind....
upgrading the bios is necessary....!! and u cud apply AS5 to keep the temps down....

and it is not exactly similar to the 4720....the chipsets are a bit diff but both have socket Ps....
and by the way what is the AS for..??

 

can you download pc wizard and give us your chipset,
then open the ram bay and copy and post the number on the sticker on the top slot for us,
cheers
Phil


i love this a new cpu upgrade job

 

sorry angad
forgot to put your name down.
I do apologise

 

I have different model, 5715Z, but with EXACTLY the same specs. I managed to upgrade the T2370 with T7500.

 

Thats alright....

 

Jay....i think ur notebook is the 4715z which has a kin, the 4315 which is a model lower....u can go upto T7700 without any problem....but dont forget upgrading the bios....!!
ur model is quite similar to the 5315 and 5715z which have a GL960 too....

 

upgrade the bios first before you do any upgrades
purchase arctic silver 5 and the cleaning solution as well.
before you start.

 

Wow! That is some rapid replies! Nice to see so much experience willing to help. Thanks all!

I am currently away from the notebook (posting during lunch at work). I did a quick search for the T7700 and it looks like it will definitely meet my needs! When I get home I’ll open up the notebook and take a look inside for the ram bay sticker and post it. I’ll also search the posts for links regarding CPU upgrades for the 4315, 5315, and 5715z models. I’ll also look into getting some AS5 and cleaning compound.

I know I need to upgrade the BIOS first… do I just go to the Acer site and look up the most recent BIOS for my model? Thanks again all! I’ll post again when I’m able.

 

my 5315 has a i965 in it,,, and if your 4715 has the same you might want to consider the T8100 or T8300... i have verification of a T8100 working on a 5315,, but i want to check your BIOS changelog to see if it supports above a T7700

but i'm with angad, upto a T7700 should be no problem

later,
bigO

 

there is no diff between the GL960 and the i965gm....the former comes with celerons installed in it and is like the budget version of i965gm....

just curious bigO but at what speed is ur ram operating and does the mobo code of ur laptop start with MB.ALD02....??

 

mine came with a celeron... and was reported as a 960,, but after upgrading to a T5450 cpu-z and pc wiz now says it's a 965,

i'll check and see if i have a PIC of my RAM sticker #,,, if not i'll write the # down and PM you the info later

my ram runs at 667Mhz.... here is a link of a screenshot taken after CPU upgrade

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/641/ppuser/122813

later,
bigO

 

Mine is reported as GL960( www.acer.es), now I'm running a T7500 with FSB800(which GL960 do NOT support).
Intel Chipset Identification Utility can't detect my chipset..and according to Intel.com, if ICIU can't detect my chipset it means I don't have a GM965...

View attachment 19756

 

the gl960 and i965gm are just the same if u look at the chipset diag....intel just didnt wanted to spoil the name of their 965gm chipst supporting santa rosa cpus....so they made a budget version of it - the gl960 which runs at 533mhz fsb and has 533mhz ram....(and intel says that it is limited to these figures )
which in a way does prove that both are the same since u guys have upgrade to the cpus and rams which have a higher frequency....!!

 

don't feel bad ATTHEGATES the ICU can't detect mine now either.... i wonder if it's due to SP3
now i get this message

Memory Controller: Failed to identify your chipset

I/O Controller: Failed to identify your ICH

 

Hmm..When I get my new hdd will do fresh dual-boot and will run ICU on xp sp2/sp3 / Vista

 

dont bother about the chipset identification utilities....it showed me that i have a i945GM and like a muppet, i went ahead and bought a T5500 which never even worked....

 

I'm still around... my schedule has prevented my working on this as much as I'd like. I popped open the cover last night but was unable to determine which sticker I was to note. Is there a link to an image showing me which one? I'll try to snap a picture of the insides tonight.

From everyone's response it looks like I should be able to run a T7500 or T7700 ok. Are there any hurdles I need to worry about other than cleaning the area, installing it correctly using AS5, and upgrading the bios?

I've been looking around for the bios update for this machine... it does seem to be a stepped up 4315. Digging around in acer-euro ftp brought me to the below link... I'm assuming this is the bios update I'm wanting to flash.

ftp://ftp.work.acer-euro.com/notebook/aspire_4715_z/

Will this bios support running a T7500 or T7700?

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement!

 

well i am not so very sure about the bios....get it from the http site of the acer euro support....!!
it is always better to go stepwise....go for the T7xxx first or a T8xxx if u can get a cheap deal....!! its hit and trial which is going to tell u if the bios supports it or not....but the chipset definitely does..!!

 

i'd guess that the 1.13 is the newest bios out....

and i think you have the process down

unfortunatly i couldn't find any data about CPUs supported by those BIOSs
i'll check another source

 

Yes... I'm still around...

Hey fellas! Nice new spiffy logos!

Finally got around to updating bios to 1.13. Took a bit for me to figure out, I finally reverted to doing a boot disk as opposed to the whole flash bios thing.

Version 1.13 bios has the following line added to the build file:
1.Support Penryn CPU like Biwa/Columbia/Tangiz/Tahoe/Calado.

So according to the build file, I should probably be able to support a T8100 / T8300 I guess. I might try that route... I've been shopping around for a T7500 / T7700 and still can't find a price I like... even on ebay. Seems to me that I can find the others cheaper. I'll keep the unoffical support crew appraised... albeit infrequently.

Thanks!

 

go for that T8300 if the cost isn't too bad... you can support it!!!

and stop back in and let us know how it goes

 

I'm still around...

Finally got my chip in. Picked up a T8300. Just installed it and everything seems to boot up and run fine. I'm pleased as punch. I can see a noticeable difference in speed. I'll continue to monitor the pc over the next few days and will update the forum if I notice any changes or issues.

For anyone who stumbles upon this page searching for a way to upgrade the processor in their Acer 4715Z, please note that the model is similar to the Acer 5315, and they will find a wealth of information at the following sticky link:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=251959

Thanks to bigozone, angad1608, atthegates, and hoggie for all the help and encouragement.

Next steps for me after this will be to try to bump the ram to 3G...

 

glad it worked out so smooth for you!!!

congrats.... and keep us posted on your future upgrades

 

I've been running the T8300 for a couple of weeks. No complaints, no real issues. Seems to run a bit hotter than the old processor, but still relatively cool. I took advantage of the undervolting guide on this fine site ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=235824) to good effect, although the RightMark app doesn't recognize the T8300 (I selected the generic mobile processor and unknown core). The chip is using between .95V and 1.06V, and averages 39 C at idle and 69 C at full load. The laptop can now hit the 4 hour mark on the power saver setting.

I was able to bump it from 2 to 3G of ram, even though it not supposed to support it. The 2G card needs to go into the secondary ram slot (the first one you can access) or the unit will blue screen.

Well, that's it for upgrades for me for a while. Excellent site, excellent help and encouragement. Thanks again for everything!

 

CONGRATS

glad it all worsk for you.....
enjoy it